St. Landry democrat., 1887-11-26
GOVERNOR McENERYS DEFINI-
TON OF A FACTION.
n. 0. Picayunc.

n. 0. Picayunc.
Governor McEncry opened his appeal
forathiId term, the other day at Monroe,
with Il gross Misrepresentation OF the
position assumed by the supporters of
General Nichols in this canvass. His
first sentence was, "The Democratic
party of the State of Louisiana is on
fronted with a faction in this State
which is claiming to represent ali the
virtue, intelligence and morality of the
State" Immediately afterwards he
made it clear that by "the Democratic
marty of the State of Louisiana he
! meant that part of the party which is in
sympathy with his w political aSplra-
tons. that he regarded those Democrats
who have ventuled to doubt the entire
wisdom and impartiallty Of his admin
lstratiun, and the expectancy and pro-
priety of his denomination, as members
of an inSolent, c~ontumaClOuS and I'M
democratic "faCtl0n."
There is no man in the State who has
less right TO speak III this dISreSptctlul
way of the thousands and tens of thou
sands of good Democrats in Louisiana
who cannot regard him as the prop
er candidate of their party for the
office which he now holds. II IS we'll
known that he was nominated for his
present term by u small minority and
elected by Il large majority. Ills unp0p-
nlarity was SO great that for the first
time in the history OF the party IN Lou
isiana a Democratic candidate tor the
y~oytrnorShip went before the people
without the compliment OF Il unauI-
| nous nomination. Nevertheless tie OPP
| position rallied to his support, and Its
LOYALTY to the party enabled him to Sc
! cure an election to which he now retclS
in proof Of his personal prestige.
Only " weeks before the nOmi-
mating convention met in 1888, the
! Times-Democrat published edItoriaIly
what purported to be IA careful estimate
| of the result of the canvass, and claimed
| for Governor McEncly a vote Of go out
of a total of 800 delegates. The event
showed that Il change OF less than TWEEN
tv-tw0 votes would have defeated him.
The vote actually cast III the Conven-
| lion stood 220 4-12 for McEncry, and
IFS S-12 for Nichols. General Nichols
had made no V lie was not an
aspirant for the nomination. On the
| contrary, up to the very last moment he
refused to permit the use of his name,
and was finally placed before the con
vcntiou without his consent. But, uu-
der conditions SO favorable, with ali the
thorough discipline and organization OF
! the oitice-hOldtrS to support him, Me
Emery was nominated 10y il very slender
majority and could not have been elect
ed without the aid of his opponents III
the party.
At that time Judge Estilette occupied
a position which he has since reversed.
| He then represented the majority i'll
| I :: ,,,,i,l, ,,,l ~ ,,.,, la. u-l,, b,I,l. h..
first speech placing General Nichols in
nomination. In that speech he
said In view OF the principles
which we, the delegates from st. Landry,
advocate, | desire to place iii nomiua-
ton IA man whose name is Il by-WVrd
throughout the length and breadth of
Louisiana: whose history Is known to
every man and every woman and every
child in the State; Il man whose pur-
poses are OF such 1T character that to-
day he stands uppermOSt IL the State OF
! Louisiana q; a man against whose char
acttr nothing can be said Il man who
has sacrificed everything Tor the inter-
est of Louisiana il man who has cyer
| been true to his State and tru to his
party. | desire to put IL nomination Il
man whose name, II nominated by tins
convention, shall be received throughout
the State with an enthusiasm slcn as no
man can command Il man WHO Will
draw around himself every faction,
w]hateverit may be, of the Democratic
party a MAJ who Will inspire conf
dence at home and abroad. | call upon
my fellow-men here to lay aside every
thing like feeling, and be guided sole
" and entirely by the desire to do for
the State of Louisiana what Is for her
interest. | desire to place i'll nominal
ton Francis I. Nicholas"
We believe that Judge Estilette cN-
pressed on that occasion precisely what
was then and Is now the sentiment OF
the majority of the Louisiana DemocIa-
CIV for General Nichols. Judge Esti-
lette himself has undergone IL change,
but his people III ST. Landry have neveI
wavered i'll their preference for the MAJ
whom he then said had lever been true
to his party 1t was left for S. ID. Nc
Emery and his satellites to discover that
Francis I. Nichols was nothing more
than the leader of a faction at war with
the Democratic party. But Governor
McEnery has a peculiar method OF test
ing the party orthodoxy OF bis fellow
citizens. Those who support him are
Democrats, pure and simple, n those
who oppose him are Iecreant to their
party obligations.
In 1855, McEnery was merely a canli-
date for a second term. To-day he is
seeking a third term, and it is he who is
untrue to Democratic usages and tIadl-
lions. The distinguished citizen whose
great name and conspicuous service we
oppose to McEnery's unprecedented and
understandable aspirations, has not had
a second term. He is just such ii Dem
ocrat as Judge Estillette described four
years ago, and when the Governor of
this State denounces him as undemo-
We can only account for the I'M
propriety upon the theory that the
Chief Executive of our present State
government is SO absorbed in the sur
passing merits of his own personality |
that he cannot understand how any true
Democrat could venture to question his
to the dictatorship OF the party.
The Verdict Unanimous.